Paralyzed man uses bionic exoskeleton to fulfill vow not to roll down aisle of own wedding

SYRACUSE, New York -- When Matt Ficarra proposed to his girlfriend he vowed that he would not roll down the aisle in a wheelchair.

Ficarra’s fiancée, Jordan Basile, and family believed him, but also wondered how a man who had been paralyzed from the neck down in a boating accident in 2011 would accomplish that.

Over the weekend Ficarra lived up to his promise and walked at his own wedding reported the Syracuse Post-Standard.

Ficarra accomplished the miraculous feat thanks to a bionic exoskeleton called an Ekso.

According to The Post-Standard, Ficarra spent months driving 7-hours each week back and forth from his home to Allentown Pennsylvania to practice with the Ekso.

All that practice paid off. Friday night moments after exchanging their vows the happy couple walked down the aisle surrounded by family and friends.

The Ekso suits are currently only available at rehab facilities, but according to Ficarra’s online fundraising site an at-home version will be available in the summer of 2015.

Ficarra is trying to raise $130,000 to be one of the first to own the Ekso at home.

“Daily use of this device has been known to retrain the brain, spinal cord, and muscles to reconnect and improve ones function,” wrote a friend of Ficarra on YouCaring.com. “The human body is meant to be standing and walking, not sitting sedentary for 14-16 hours per day. If one stands and walks for even an hour, it has phenomenal benefits to one's muscle spasticity, digestion, circulation, bone density, pressure relief, etc.”